Apple took the number one position in global smartphone sales during the first quarter of 2025, according to new data from Counterpoint Research. It’s the first time Apple has taken the top spot during a first quarter, capturing 19% of the global market.

The iPhone maker’s success came despite economic uncertainties, with Apple benefiting from the iPhone 16e launch and strong performance in emerging markets. Starting at $599, the iPhone 16e was released by Apple in March to replace the iPhone SE, the most affordable device in the company’s lineup.

Samsung followed in second place with 18% market share, continuing its gradual decline from 21% in Q1 2023. The Korean manufacturer experienced a slow start due to the late launch of its S25 series, but saw sales improve in March.

Xiaomi kept tight to its growth trajectory to secure third position with 14% of the market, up from 13% a year earlier. The Chinese company’s expansion benefited from growth in its domestic market, where its entry into electric vehicles has enhanced its brand presence. Meanwhile, vivo and OPPO rounded out the top five.

The global smartphone market grew 3% year-over-year in Q1 2025, but Counterpoint has revised its annual forecast and now expects a slight decline for the full year. The adjustment is due to rising economic uncertainties, particularly related to tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Counterpoint believes that economic volatility could lead consumers to postpone smartphone purchases, which could potentially disrupt the supply chain and increase trade risks.

Apple’s performance was notably regional in nature. While sales remained flat or declined in the U.S., Europe, and China, the company achieved double-digit growth in Japan, India, Middle East and Africa, and Southeast Asia.

This article, "iPhone 16e Helps Apple Take Q1 Top Spot in Global Smartphone Market" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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The next major Apple Watch software update arriving this year will only feature some of the new UI design changes that Apple is preparing for iOS 19, but watchOS 12 won’t get a complete interface overhaul like Apple’s iPhone software, according to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman.

Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says that the Apple Watch will receive “new interface elements here and there,” but the changes won’t be on the same scale as what’s coming in iOS 19. The latter is said to be inspired by visionOS, which has an emphasis on translucency, glassy UI elements, subtle lighting effects, and includes rounded icons and buttons.

The Verifier previously reported that watchOS will eventually have “elements” of visionOS, including a look that is bolder, slightly transparent, and with a floating aesthetic. Buttons, menus, icons, and other user interface elements will reportedly also be refreshed, and Apple is said to be “working on several ideas” for the Home Screen. The report did not say when the changes would be implemented, but Gurman seems confident that they will arrive as part of watchOS 12 later this year.

Gurman reports that Apple is also planning to bring a new set of features to Apple Watch that it is branding as “powered by Apple Intelligence.” Unlike iOS 18, Apple Watch does not currently have Apple Intelligence because of the high amount of local storage required by the underlying large language models, and Apple is set to keep it that way – with the watch relying on the paired iPhone to deliver AI features. Gurman did not specify what the new features are.

Apple typically releases new versions of its software for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV in the fall, around September, when new products in these categories are launched.

This article, "Apple Watch to Get 'Some' of the UI Design Changes Coming in iOS 19" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Samsung has only just started rolling out the Android 15-based One UI 7 update but the attention has already shifted to Android 16 and One UI 8. We’ve exclusively revealed that the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 will ship with One UI 8 out of the box. Evidently, Samsung’s next major […]

The post Major One UI 8 leak shows it’s not going to blow your socks off appeared first on SamMobile.

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Nobody expected Samsung’s One UI 7 rollout to take so long, and while certain S24 series devices across South Korea and Europe began receiving the update last week, users are now reporting that the update is no longer available to download. Samsung seems to have pulled the firmware update from its OTA servers without explaining why. According to leakster Ice Universe, Samsung discovered several bugs on devices that got the One UI 7 update, including instances where updated phones could “not be unlocked normally”. SamMobile also reported a critical bug with Samsung’s Secure Folder, which…

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Apple CEO Tim Cook is “hell bent” on bringing true augmented reality glasses to market before Meta can achieve the same feat, according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman.

Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says that upcoming new versions of Apple’s Vision Pro mixed reality headset are a “stepping stone” towards Cook’s ultimate decade-long goal of making AR glasses – lightweight spectacles that users can wear all day and which overlay graphics on the real world.

Cook has apparently made the glasses a “top priority” for the company. “Tim cares about nothing else,” Gurman quotes a person with knowledge of the matter as saying. “It’s the only thing he’s really spending his time on from a product development standpoint.”

Gurman notes that it will take “many years” for true AR glasses to be ready, with several technologies still needing to be perfected, including high-resolution displays, a high-performance chip, and a tiny battery that can provide all-day power.

Meta’s non-AR Ray-Ban glasses have reportedly been a surprise hit. These glasses are for taking pictures and conversing with an AI assistant. Apple is said to have discussed the possibility of making similar glasses to compete in the same space. Apple’s rationale seems to be that creating smart glasses could be a precursor to developing true AR glasses further in the future.

Apple is also said to be adding AI-enabled cameras to the Apple Watch and AirPods over the next couple of years.

There have been rumors about Apple’s work on AR glasses – aka Apple Glass – for almost 10 years now, and the Vision Pro headset is what Apple built because the technology doesn’t yet exist for the kind of augmented reality glasses that Apple is aiming for.

Gurman has previously reported that Apple is conducting user studies at its offices to gauge the appeal of features and interfaces, and that the company is working on a version of visionOS that will run on glasses. Codenamed “Atlas,” the studies are being led by Apple’s Product Systems Quality team, part of the hardware engineering division.

This article, "Apple CEO 'Hell Bent' on Launching True AR Glasses Before Meta" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple’s upcoming foldable iPhone (or “iPhone Fold”) will feature two screens as part of its book-style design, and a Chinese leaker claims to know the resolutions for both of them.

According to the Weibo-based account Digital Chat Station, the inner display, which is approximately 7.76 inches, will use a 2,713 x 1,920 resolution and feature “under-screen camera technology.” Meanwhile, the 5.49-inch outer display will use 2,088 x 1,422 resolution, and this screen will allegedly have a punch-hole camera.

Digital Chat Station previously claimed that the inner folding display will have a 4:3 aspect ratio, and they also earlier revealed the alleged display dimensions of the iPhone Fold. Reputable Apple industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has since corroborated these dimensions, additionally describing the inner screen as “crease-free.” However, talk of the device using under-screen camera technology has not been claimed up until now.

That said, rumors have suggested Apple is also working on a foldable iPad, and Digital Chat Station has previously claimed that this device will use under-display Face ID technology, so it could be that Apple is seeking design parity between the two foldable devices. Additionally, Kuo believes the rear-facing camera on the foldable iPhone will use dual lenses and that the device will forgo Face ID authentication, instead using a Touch ID side button as a means to save precious internal space.

Apple will launch its long-rumored foldable iPhone next year with a ~$2,000 premium price tag attached, expects well-connected Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman. According to analyst Jeff Pu, the device recently entered the New Product Introduction (NPI) phase at Foxconn, with mass production slated to begin in the second half of 2026.

• Foldable iPhone: All the Rumored Features So Far

According to Gurman, the device will take advantage of the display, battery, modem, and chip advances that Apple has made in its development of the iPhone 17 Air, which is expected to replace the “Plus” model in Apple’s smartphone lineup this year.

This article, "Foldable iPhone Resolutions Leak With Under-Screen Camera Tipped" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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If you’re one of the lucky Galaxy S24, Galaxy Z Flip 6, or Galaxy Z Fold 6 users who received the stable One UI 7 update before Samsung pulled it from its servers, you may have noticed that lock screen notifications don’t show up as they used to. In One UI 6.1, notification icons appeared […]

The post Where did my lock screen notifications go in One UI 7? appeared first on SamMobile.

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Smartphones, laptops and computer components will be exempt from the Trump administration’s latest round of tariffs. The US Customs and Border Protection issued an updated guidance on the reciprocal tariff exclusions for specified products late Friday. Smartphones, laptop computers, monitors, hard drives, memory chips and chipsets will be exempt from the latest round of tariffs, which reached 145% for imports coming from China. While this is good news for major players like Apple and Nvidia, the exemption may be short-lived. President Trump announced on Sunday that he would be placing…

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1. PlayStation 5 : le prix de la console augmente encore en France  Le Figaro
2. Sony annonce une « décision difficile » au sujet de la PS5 qui ne va pas plaire, mais il y a aussi une bonne nouvelle  jeuxvideo.com
3. Sony annonce une hausse des prix de sa PlayStation 5 dans plusieurs régions  Portail Orange
4. PlayStation 5 : Sony annonce que la version digitale coûtera désormais 499 euros, en hausse de 50 euros  Sud Ouest
5. PS5 : hausse de prix surprise, cinq ans après sa sortie  Les Numériques

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1-inch sensors have become rarer than in previous years, but they are still used in the top-of-the-line camera phones. For those, nothing but the best will do, so OmniVision has unveiled a new sensor with the highest dynamic range in the industry and “movie-grade” video capture. The OmniVision OV50X is a 50MP sensor with a 1” optical format – it has massive 1.6µm pixels before binning. It does support 4-in-1 binning (12.5MP output resolution) at 180fps. It can also do three-channel HDR at 60fps. Speaking of HDR, the sensor offers dynamic range “close to 110dB”, which is the maximum…

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